The Quinnipiac baseball team opened up the season with a tough weekend at the University of Maryland, getting swept in their first three games of the season. Maryland improved to 4-4 with the victories.
The Bobcats were outscored 28-13 during the non-conference series. They mustered a .233 team batting average and an 8.39 team ERA. Their first game was on Feb. 27.
Baseball falls short in opener:
Joe Duffy was handed the loss for Quinnipiac, giving up five runs in five innings of relief work. Farina and Marmo paced the Bobcats offense with three hits apiece.
Maryland got going in the third inning, for Bobcat starter Chris Gloor with three runs. After walking two batters to start off the inning, Gloor managed to record two outs before Maryland’s Mike Murphy came to the plate. Murphy cleared the bases with a three-run home run, giving Maryland the 3-1 edge.
The Terrapins tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to chase Gloor and gain a 6-1 lead. Gloor surrendered six runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings. He also gave up four walks and struck out four.
In the sixth inning, the Bobcats scored four runs to take an 8-6 lead. Maryland’s John Dischert started the inning in relief of starter Ian Schwalenberg and was tagged with four runs in 1/3 inning. Bobak Emamian forced home a run after drawing a walk with the bases loaded. Marmo doubled home Doyle and Amanti to put the Bobcats ahead.
The game was a back-and-forth contest for the rest of the night with the Bobcats leading 10-9 going into the bottom of the ninth. Terrapin Tyler Buran led off with a single to left field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A.J. Casario sent Buran to third with a single. With two on and two out, David Poutier sent the game-winning double to right-center field for the 11-10 win.
The Bobcats finished out the series with a double-header on Saturday. They managed only three runs of offense combined as Maryland starting pitchers junior Scott Swinson and freshman Matt Fullerton baffled the Quinnipiac lineup.
Mayer, Birdsall, roughed up:
In the first game of the doubleheader, Quinnipiac struck first in the top of the second inning. Tyler Turgeon sent Doyle home with a sacrifice fly to left field. Swinson settled down from there on out, surrendering one run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He left the game with a 9-1 lead.
Quinnipiac’s starter Andy Mayer held his own, allowing three runs on five hits through five innings. The game was close, with a score of 3-1, heading into the bottom of the sixth. Kyle Birdsall relieved Mayer, and proceeded to give up six runs in just 1/3 of an inning. Very quickly, the Bobcats were looking at a 9-1 deficit.
The Terrapins would increase their lead to 10-1 before the Bobcats mounted a small rally in the top of the ninth. Doyle opened the inning with a strikeout, followed by a single by Emamian. Poletsky walked and Kyle Nisson reached on a fielding error to load the bases with two outs. After Emamian scored on a wild pitch, Farina flew out to right to end the threat and the game
Terps tear up ‘Cats, 7-1:
In the second game, Fullerton stifled the Bobcats, giving up one run over 5 1/3 innings of work. The bullpen shut down the offense for the rest of the game as well, surrendering just two hits and no runs.
For the Bobcats, starter Mike Oskandy logged seven innings of work, spreading out eight hits and allowing one earned run. He gave up five unearned runs overall. The Terrapins took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, and scored again in the sixth and the eighth.
The Bobcats’ lone run came in the top of the sixth. Turgeon led off with a single and moved to second after Jeff Carino was hit by a pitch. Farina moved Turgeon and Carino over with a sacrifice bunt and Turgeon scored on a groundout by Chris Migani. Amanti struck out looking to end the inning.
Quinnipiac will be looking for its first win of the season when they travel to the University of Georgia for a three-game series March 6-8. Georgia was the runner-up in the 2008 NCAA College World Series.
